Many people in Wyoming are looking forward to the upcoming holidays with anticipation, but for people taking care of a loved one the holiday can bring a great deal of added stress.

AARP Family Caregiving advocate Amy Goyer says for Wyoming’s 72,000 caregivers who provide for an elderly family member at home, the idea of adding shopping and entertaining to an otherwise tight schedule can be too much. Her advice is to let yourself off the hook.

Wyoming ranks 16th in the nation when it comes to meeting the long term health care needs of older residents. The ranking comes from a comprehensive state by state scorecard developed by AARP, the Commonwealth fund, and SCAN foundation.

In Wyoming unpaid family caregivers provide the bulk of care for older Wyoming residents, in part because long term care is unaffordable for most middle income families. AARP Wyoming’s Associate Director Tim Lockwood says things aren’t all that bad in the state, but they could be better.

People in Wyoming are being asked to share their opinions on the future of Medicare and Social Security. The A-A-R-P is asking citizens to go to the website Earned-A-Say-dot-org and give their views on the importance of both programs to their lives and what they think about federal ideas to potentially reform both Medicare and Social Security. A-A-R-P Wyoming State Director Tim Summers says his organization has done studies and has found that people in rural areas are unlikely to have a pension plan and for that reason, social security is critical.